B2 

:^5 



PARKS and 
MEMORIALS 



of the 



STATE OF ILLINOIS 



Parks &" Memorials 



of the 



STATE OF ILLINOIS 







SNS^^V^ 



Under the Supervision of 
The Department of Public Works and Buildings 

Hon. Len Small. Governor 
Cornelius R. Miller, Director 
Don Garrison, Assistant Director 
John G. Boyle, Superintendent of Parks 

Compiled by 

C. M. SERVICE 



[Printed b.v authority of the State of Illinois.] 



ScHNEi'P & Barnes, I'rinters 

Springfield, III. 

1922 

(;()(!90— s.r.oo 



LiBflARY OF CONGRESS 
RECEIVSD 

MAYS 1922 

' nocuMENTa Division 



\ 






LKN SMALI.. GOVERNOR. 



TABLE OF CONTENTS. 



PAGE. 

National and Slate Parks 7 

Fort I'hartres S 

Fort Massac 12 

Lincoln Monnnicnt J4 

Old Salrni I 'ark 2i 

\ andalia (Onrl I louse 37 

Douglas Monunienl Park 28 

Lincoln Homestead ->() 

Starved Rock Park ;U 

Starved Rock I 'ark. tlistorv •^■'i 

Starved Rock Park, Geologic 1 listory 45 

Starved Rock Park. ( leologic Formations A7 

Starved Rock I'ark. I'.ird Lite .')() 

Starved Rock Park. Points of interest 52 

Metamora ("ourt 1 louse 54 

l<^)rt C'reve C^^eiu" 50 

l)i\on Pldck Mouse 57 

Illinois .\l(»nunu'nts 5S 

ShahlM.na I'ark (>() 



National and State Parks 

FOR some }'cars ihvw has Itccn a ii()tal)l(.' niox fniciit on llie ])art 
r)f the National ( loNcninicnt and many of the States to accjnirc, 
tor the benefit of llie ])eo|)lc. areas of land which are noted for 
beauty of scenery or historic interest. Four million acres, in thirteen 
different localities, have now Ijeen set aside by the National Government 
tor park ])ur|)oses. 

Kut the ])eoi)le in a num])er of states have been more directly 
benefited throui^h the estaljlishment of state ])arks. Among the states 
which have been cons])icuous in their legislation for this purpose are 
New York. California. Wisconsin. Massachusetts. Michigan, Ohio and 
Illinois. 

Illinois is developing a comprehensive system of State Parks, 
fhe movement had its feeble beginning within the last decade. Until 
four years ago the parks owned l)y the State were administered bv a 
commission which scattered its efforts. The su])ervision of jjarks is 
now in the hands of the Department of rul)lic Works and Buildings. 
(Governor Small, ever mindful of the interests of the citizens of the 
state and vwv an ardent advocate of public parks early in his ad- 
ministration re(|uested the l)e|)artnieni to trap out a progressive pro- 
gram oi park develo])ment. 

The Illinois plan has as its end the imjtrovement or reclamation 
of every important s])(jt in the state that is hallowed by historic mem- 
ories. Many such places have already been taken over by the State 
a'cl po elTorl is being spared to ])i"e,'-erve them in tlvir original gran- 
dem-. fhe newest accessions in ])aik jiroperties is Old Salem, the 
early hoim' of .\braham Lincoln, located on the Sangamon River, 
near Petersburg; X'andalia Court blouse, t'le frst capital after the ad- 
mission of Illinois to the Union ; Metamora Court House, in Woodford 
County; I'^ort Creve Coeur. near Peoria and a site in Dixon on which 
was located the block house in which .Vbraham Lincoln was (juartered 
as a soldier during the lUack I lawk War. Agitation is on foot for 
the i)urchase of Cam])l)eirs Island, si.x miles east of MoHne ; the White 
Pine forest in Ogle count\- and Cabokia Mounds, a short distance from 
I'^ast St. Louis, 'fotal ai)propriations of the Fifty-Second General 
AssembK for improvements and maintenance of vState Parks exceed 
$150,000.00. 

The historic spots and jiarks now under the su])ervision of the 
Department of Tublic Works and lUiildings are: Lincoln Monu- 
ment. Lincoln Homestead. X'andalia Court House, Douglas MOnu- 
nient, b^ort Massac, Fort Chartres, Old Salem Park, Starved 



Rock I 'ark, Shalihona I 'ark, k'ort Crevc C(jcur, Mctamora Court House 
and a siti.' in I )ix(in. 

Illinois parks are surpassed by ihose of no other state and the 
|>rograni mapped out gives promise of greater developments. The 
State I'ark movement is well started and the conservation of natural 
beautN' s])()ts and sites ot historic interest is appealing strongK to the 
lover of nature and the patriotic people ol Illinois. 



FORT CHARTRES. 

F( )l\ r CI IAI\ri\l''..S is located in l\an(lol])h County, ahwut 
three miles north of the \illas^e of I'rairie du Roches. 
I*"arly Illinois history ccuter.s about h'ort Chartre.s, the lud) of 
i^'rench intlueuce in the central west for almost half a century be- 
fore it was wrested from them in ITtiT) by the British. The first fort, 
constructed in an alluvial bottom, three- fourths of a mile from the 
Mississippi River, in the northwest corner of Randolph County, was 
built of wood with a stockade nf tind)er. The second fort, con- 
structed of limestone (|uarried from the rixcr bluffs, was located a 
mile above the old fort and half a mile froiu the ri\er. 

Fort dc Chartres, named for the I'uke de Chartres, son of the 
regent of France, was built to give protection to the Company of 
the West or Mississippi Company, organized in 1717 and holding 
sway for fourteen years. A village grew up rapidly between the 
fort and the river and Jesuit missionaries established the church of 
St. Anne. T>ater Phillippe Francis dc Renault, director general of 
mining ()])erations of the ("omi)an\ of the West, brought over two 
hundred French miners and fix c hundred ( Ininea shn-es, introducing 
negro sla\er\ into what was later Illinois, althongh Indian slavery 
w^as not uncommon. 

In 1831 the Indian Companw successors to the Company of the 
West, retroceded ])ossession to the crown and diuis \\ proclaimed 
jurisdiction. Louisiana was se])arated Irom Canada and Illinois 
was organized as a dependency commanded by Ca])tain Pierre 
D'Artagnette, later l)urned to death by the Indians. 

War was declared between T^^rancc and Fngland in 11 1 I and the 
colonies became embroiled. It was in ]'](u) that the I^Tench I'leur 
de Lis was drawn dow n and tlie Red Cross of St. George imfurled. 

In 1772 a freshet washed away the bastion of the fort and the 
garrisons deserted it, going to Kaskaskia, wdnich in later years fell 
before George Rogers Clark and his valiant men. After 1772 the 
fort never was occupied excejU by Indians. 

In 1778 Congress reserved from entry or sale a tract of land a 
mile square, including Fort Chartres and its buildings. 

The following account of the fort was given by Pitman, 

an English traveler who visited it during the \ ear 1765. 



10 

''The fort is an irregular quadraiiKle; the si<les of the exterior polygon 
are four hundred and ninety feet. It is built of stone and plastered over, 
and is only designed as a defense against the Indians, the walls being two 
feet two inches thick and pierced with loop holes at regular distances, 
and with two port-holes for cannon in the faces, and two in the flanks of 
each bastion: the ditch has never been finished; ths entrance to the fort is 
through a very handsome rustic gate; within the wall is a small banquette 
raised three feet for the men to stand on when they fire through the loop 
holes. The buildings within the fort are comnr.indanfs and commissary's 
houses, the magazine of stores, corps de garde and two barracks; these 
occupy the square. Within the gorges of the bastions ar(> a powder magazine, 
a bake house, a prison, in the lower floor of which are four dungeons, and 
in the upper, two rooms, and an out house belonging to the commandant. 
The commandant's house is thirty-two yards long and ten broad; it con- 
tains a kitchen, a dining room, a bed chamber, one small room, five closets 
for servants and a cellar. The commissary's house (now occupied by oflTi- 
cers) is built in the same line as this, its proportions and distribution 
or apartments are the same. Opposite these are the storehouse and guard- 
house, they are each thirty yards long and eight broad; the former consists 
of two large store rooms (under which is a large vaulted cellar) and a 
large room, a bed chamber, and a closet for the store-keeper; the latter, of 
the soldiers and ofTicers guardrooms, a chapel, a bed chamber and closet for 
the chaplain and an artillery store-room. The lines of barracks have never 
been finished; they at present consist of two rooms each for officers, and 
three rooms for soldiers; they are good, spacious rooms of twenty-two feet 
square and have betwixt them a small passage. There are fine spacious 
lofts over each building which reach from en;l to end; these are made use 
of to lodge regimental stores, working and entrenching tools, etc. The 
bank of the Mississippi, next the fort is continually falling in, being worn 
away by the current, which has been turned from its course by a sand bank 
now increased to a considerable island covered with willows; many experi- 
ments have been made to stop this growing evil but to no purpose. When 
the fort was begun in the year 1756, it was a good half mile from the water's 
side; in the year 1766 it was but eighty paces; eight years ago the river was 
fordable to the island; the channel is now forty feet deep. In the year 
1764 there were about forty families in the village near the fort an a parish 
church served by a Franciscan friar dedicated to St. Anne. In the follow- 
ing year, when the English took possession of the country, they abandoned 
their houses except three or four poor families, and settled at the villages 
on the west side of the Mississippi, choosing to continue under the French 
government." 

The ])e])arlment of I'ul)lic W'orlss and I')iiildin,<;s ha.s restored 
iht' old fortress fr(,iii llu- ii.-ilixc rock wiiich is av.iil;d)le in large 
(|nantities in tlu- mar xicinilw t lunil linL; walls of the second fort 
still remain and tlu' ancient ])o\vder magazine remains almost intact. 
Kc'porls mention llu- fort as the best constrncted fortification in 
.America. 1 he masonr}' was so well done thai the orii^inal walls 
are now easily traceable. Detailed infoiinalion as to its constrnc- 
tion was obtained from a \ariet\ of early reminiscences and tle- 
scriptions and from ihe hies of the l-rench (^lovernmeiil. It is 
now possible for visitors to see tlu- ancient tortilication as it ex- 
isted two Inmdred years a""o. 



11 




13 

FORT MASSAC. 

FORT MASSAC is located in Massac county, on the Ohio river, 
near the present city of Metropolis. 
It is historically signihcant. It offered the opening wedge 
by which George Rogers Clark entered and conquered from the 
British the expensive northwest territory composing the present 
"states of Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Wisconsin and parts of Michigan 
and Minnesota. 

This intrepid explorer navigated down the Ohio to Fort Alas- 
sac, captured the garrison and then proceeded overland one hundred 
and twenty miles with a handful of hardy woodsmen soldiers 
-from Virginia to Kaskaskia and V'incennes, wresting from the 
English those posts and hoisted the American flag, marking the 
end of foreign dominance. 

Historical accounts have it that the site was first visited by De 
Soto, in the year l.>i-^ when it was used as a temporary fortress 
against the Indians. Aaron llurr also stopped at this point in 1805, 
while en route to the south to establish an em])ire which was 
to have absorbed the American Republic, with liurr at its head. 

The fort itself v.as built by Captain Charles Phillips Aubrey, 
sent into the Illinois country in 1756 from New Orleans, to care 
for French interests against encroachments of the British. Leav- 
ing Fort Chartres on May 10, 1757, Aubrey reached Massac the 
same year and drove the first stake on Ascension Day : hence the 
stornghold first bore the name Fort Ascension. The fort was cap- 
tured in 1765 by the English, who held it thirteen years until its 
fall before George Rogers Clark. In 1794, the old block house 
and palisades were rebuilt by order of President George Washing- 
ton as a protection for American settlers who began pushing west- 
ward in great numbers. 

The origin of the name. Fort Massac, has not been determined. 
A legend recounts a massacre by Indians during French occupancy 
and the taking of the name Fort Massacre, which was later abbre- 
viated to Fort Massac. 'J"he Indians, so the story reads, appeared 
on what is now the Kentucky side of the river, garbed in bear 
skins and crawling on their hands and knees. Soldiers of the 
garrison quickly crossed the river to make a killing. In their 
absence, a party of Indians fell upon the unprotected settlement, 
murdering every inhabitant and setting fire to the buildings. 

Until its purchase by the State in 1903, through the instrumen- 
tality of the Daughters of the American Revolution, the site of 
Fort Massac bore few marks of its former importance. Only ruins 
of earthworks were there to show the shape of the blockhouses. 
The State has done everything possible to preserve the historic 
spot without marring its native beauty and without destroying 
the reminders of the past. 1lic park has been landscape-gardened, 
with roads and walks carefully laid out, and a custodian's cottage 



13 




11 



and rccrratioii hall for ihr use of visitors lia\r been buill. 'i'o Clark 
and his brave men there has been erected a moniunent. JM-om the 
top of Fort Massac, recognized as a natural forlres^, smoke from 
the citv of I'adncah can be seen. 



LINCOLN MONUMENT. 

LINCOLN MONUMENT and Lincoln Memorial Ilall are lo- 
cated in Oak Ridge Cemetery, Springfield, Illinois. This 
shrine is visited annually by thousands of persons of thi> 
and other countries. 

Tin-: MONUMENT. 

1dic body of Abraham Lincoln was deposited in the receiving vault 
at Oak Ridge Cemetery May 4, 18G5. 

L^pon the lllh of May, 1865, the National Lincoln iNIonument 
Association was formed, its object being to construct a monument to 
the meniorv of Abraham Lincoln in the City of Springfield, Illinois. 

The names of the gentlemen com])rising the Lincoln Monument 
Association in 1865 (now deceased) were as follows: 

Gov. Rkii.vud Oclesby, Sharon Tyndale, 

Orlin H. Miner, Thomas J. Dennis, 

John T. Stuart, Newton Bateman. 

Jesse K. DuBois. S. H. Treat, 

James C. Conkling, O. M. Hatch, 

John Wieltams, S. IT. Melvin, 

Jacou Bunn, James H. Beveridge. 
1 ) w ID L. Lnir.i.iPs. 

The tenii)or;iry vault was built and the Ijody of I 'resident Lincoln 
removed from the receiving vault of the cemetery on December 21, 
1865. Idle bodv was placed in the cryjU of the monument September 
19, is: 1. and was placed in the sarcophagus in the center of the cata- 
comb October 9, 187L 

Owing to the inslabilitv of the earth under its foundation and its 
une(iual settling the stntclure had begun to show signs of disintegra- 
tion, necessitating taking it down and rebuilding it from the foundation. 
The work was begun by Col. J. S. Culver in November, 1899. and fin- 
ished June 1. I'.Mil. A cemented vault was made beneath the floor of 
the catacomb directl}- underneath the sarcophagues and in this vault the 
body of President Lincoln was placed September 26. liMil. where it 
will probably remain undisturbed forever. 

The monument is built of brick and Ouincy granite, the latter 
material only ajjpearing in view. Tt consists of a s{|uare base T2j/^ 
feet on each side and 15 feet. 10 inches high. At the north side of 
the base is a semi-circular projection, the interior of which has a 



15 




LIXCOr.N MONUMENT. 



16 

radius of 12 feet. It is the vestibule of the catacomb, and gives 
access to view the crypts in which are placed the bodies of Mr. Lin- 
coln's wife and sons and his grandson, Abraham Lincoln, son of 
Hon. Robert T. Lincoln. On the south side of the base is another 
semi-circular projection of the same size, but this is continued into 
the base so as to produce a room of elliptical shape, which is called 
^lemorial Hall. Thus the base measures, including these two pro- 
jections, IVjyz feet from north to south and 72^^ feet from east to 
west. In the angles formed by the addition of these two projections 
are handsome flights of stone steps, two on each end. These steps 
are projected by granite balustrades, which extend completely around 
the top of the base, which forms a terrace. From the plane of this 
terrace rises the obelisk, or die, which is 28 feet 4 inches high from 
the ground, and tapered to 11 feet square at the top. At the angles 
of this die are four pedestals of Jl feet diameter, rising 12>^ feet 
above the plane of the terrace. This obelisk, including the area occu- 
pied by the pedestals, is 41 feet square, while from the obelisk rises 
the shaft, tapering to 8 feet square at the summit. Upon the four 
pedestals stand the four bronze groups, representing the four arms 
of the service — Infantry, Cavalry, Artillery and Navy. Passing around 
the whole obelisk and pedestal is a band or chain of shields, each 
representing a state, the name of which is carved upon it. At the 
south side of the obelisk is a square pedestal, 7 feet high, support- 
ing the statue of Lincoln, the pedestal being ornamented with the 
coat of arms of the United States. This coat of arms, in the position 
it occupies on the monument, is intended to typify the Constitution 
of the United States. -Mr. Lincoln's statue on the pedesal above it 
makes the whole an illustration of his position at the outbreak of the 
rebellion. He took his stand on the Constitution as his authority for 
using the four arms of the war power of the Government — the In- 
fantry, Cavalry, Artillery and Navy — to hold together the states 
which are represented still lower on the monument by a cordon of 
tablets linking them together in a perpetual bond of union. 

The money used in the original construction of this handsome 
monument came from the people by voluntary contributions. The 
first entry made by the treasurer of the association was May 8, 1865. 
and was from Isaac Reed, of New York, $100. Then came contri- 
butions from Sunday schools, lodges, Army associations, individuals 
and states. The Seventy-third Regiment, United States colored troops, 
at New Orleans, contributed $1,437, a greater amount than was given 
by any other individual or organization except the State of Illinois. 
Many pages of the record are filled with the contributions from the 
Sunday schools of the land. Of the 5,145 entries, 1,697 are from 
Sunday schools. The largest part of the money was contrilnUed in 
1865, but it continued to come to the treasurer from all parts of the 
country until 1871. About $8,000 was contributed by the colored 
soldiers of the United States Army. Only three states made appro- 
priations for this fund— Ilhnois, $50,000; Missouri, $L000, and Ne- 
vada, $500. 



17 

The monument was dedicated October 15, 1874, the occasion be- 
ing signalized by a tremendous outpouring of the people. The ora- 
tion commemorative of the life and public services of the great emanci- 
pator was delivered by Governor Richard J. Oglesby. President Grant 
also spoke briefly on that occasion, and a poem was read by James 
Judson Lord. :^ ' "1"^' 

11ic monument was Ijuilt after the accepted designs of Larkin 
G. Mead, of Florence, Italy, and stands upon an eminence in Oak- 
Ridge Gemetery, occupying about nine acres of ground. Ground 
was broken on the site September 10, 1869, in the presence of o,()00 
persons. The capstone was placed in position on May 22, 1871. 

Tn July, 1S71. citizens of Chicago, through Hon. J. Young Scam- 
mon. contributed $13,700 to pay for the Infantry group of statuary. 
Ill the city of New York, under the leadership of Gov. E. D. Mor- 
gan, 137 gentlemen subscribed and paid $100 each, amounting to 
$13,700 for the Naval group. 

Of the fom- groups of statuary, the Naval group was the first 
completed. I'his group representes a scene on the deck of a gunboat. 
The mortar is poised ready for action ; the gunner has rolled up a 
shell ready for firing; the boy, or powder monkey, climbs to the 
highest point and is peering into the distance ; the officer in com- 
mand is abont to examine the situation through the telescope. 

The Infantry group was the next to reach Springfield. Both 
these groups were placed in position on the monument in September. 
1877. The Infantry group represents an officer, a private soldier 
and a drummer, with arms and accoutrements, marching in expectation 
of battle. The officer in command raises the flag with one hand ; 
pointing to the enemy with the other, orders a charge. The private 
with the musket, as the representative of the whole line, is in the act 
of executing the charge. The drummer boy has become excited, lost 
his cap, thrown away his haversack and drawn a revolver to take 
part in the conflict. 

The Artillery group represents a piece of artillery in battle. The 
enemy has succeeded in directing a shot so well as to dismount the 
gun. The officer in command mounts his disabled piece and with 
drawn saber fronts the enemy. The 'youthful soldier, with uplifted 
hands, is horrified at the havoc around him. The wounded and pros- 
trate soldier wears a look of intense agony. 

The Cavalry group, consisting of two human figures and a horse, 
represents a battle scene. The horse, from whose back the rider 
has just been thrown, is frantically rearing. The wounded and dving 
trumpeter, supported by a comrade, is bravely facing death. Each 
of these groups cost $13,700. 

The statue of Mr. Lincoln stands on a pedestal projecting from 
the south side of the obelisk. This is the central figure in the group 
or series of groups. As we gaze upon this heroic figure the mute lips 
seem again to speak in the memorable words that are now immortal. 
We hear again the ringing sentences spoken in 1859 of the slave power: 



18 

Broken by it, I too, may be; bow to it, I never will. * * * ]f ever I 
feel the soul within me elevate and expand to those dimensions not wiiolly 
unworthy of its Almighty Architect, it is when I contemplate the cause of 
my country deserted by all the world beside, and I, standing up boldly and 
alone, hurling defiance at her victorious oppressors. Here, without contem- 
plating consequences, before high Heaven and in the face of the world, I 
swear eternal fidelity to the just cause, as I deem it, of the land of my life, 
my liberty and my love. 

iM-om the day of its dedication. Octol)cr 15, 1874, until July 9, 
IS!).'), the Lincoln Monument remained in the control of the National 
Lincoln Monument Association. 

Li 1874, after its dedication, Jolin Carroll Power was made cus- 
todian, and continued in that ])()sition until his death in January. 1894. 
A sketch of the Lincoln Monument could not, in fairness, be written 
without paying a tribute to his faith fttlness, zeal and love. He revered 
the nation's hero and gave to his last resting place the tenderest and 
most assidtious care. Much that is of interest in the history of this 
first decade of the existence of the montiment has been written by his 
untiring i)en that would otherwise have been lost. 

After the attempt was made to steal the body of President Lin- 
coln, Mr. Power summoned to his aid, in 1880, eight gentlemen, resi- 
dents of Springfield, who organized as the "Lincoln Guard of Honor." 
14iey were J. Carroll Power, deceased ; Jasper N. Reece, deceased : 
Gustavus S. Dana, deceased ; James F. McNeill ; Joseph P. Lindley ; 
Edward S. Johnson ; Horace Chapin, deceased ; Noble B. Wiggins, 
deceased, and Clinton L. Conkling. Their object was to guard the 
precious dust of Abrrdi.am Lincoln from \andal hands and to con- 
duct, tipon the anni\ersaries of his birth and death, sttitablc memorial 
exercises. 

During these years an admittance fee of twenty-five cents was 
re(|uired of all visitors to the monument, and this small fee constittited 
a fimd by which the custodian was |)aid and the necessary expenses 
of the care of the grounds defrayed. 

In the winter of 1891, in response to a demand voiced almost 
luiiversally by the press and the i:)eople of Illinois, the General Assem- 
bly made provision for the transfer of the National Lincoln Monti- 
ment and grounds to the i)ermanent care and custodv of the State. 
The new law put the monument into the charge of a board of control, 
consisting of the Governor of the State, the State Superintendent of 
I^iblic Instruction and the State Treasurer. 

July 9. 189."i, Hon. Richard J. Oglesby, the President, the only 
surviving member of the original Lincoln Monument Association, 
turned over to the State, as represented by its chief executive. Gover- 
nor Altgeld. the deeds and papers relating to the monuiuent and 
grounds. The governor received the trust on behalf of the State, 
pledging its faithfulness to the duty of guarding and caring for the 
last resting place of the illustrious dead. .The commission appointed 
as custodian Edward S. Johnson, major of the veteran Seventh Illinois 
Infantry and a member of the Lincoln Guard of Lienor. The ad- 
mittance fee is a thing of the past and "To the Mecca of the people let 



19 






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all the people come, bringing garlands of flowers, carrying away les- 
sons of life. There is no shrine more worthy of a devotee, no academy 
of the porch or grove where is taught so simply and so grandly the 
]:)rinciples of greatness. Strew flowers. Init bear away the imprint of 

liis lite, tlie flower (it manliness and the wrcatli of honor." 

M K.MORI. \I, ilAI.L. 

W'illiin .Memorial Mall ai the south end of the Monument the 
\isitor will llnd a imniluT of intrrcslini; articles which were used by 
Mr. Lincoln ]»iTsonall\'. or which arc in some way associated with his 
mcmor\'. 

Amonsj^ tlu'sc is a block of ron.L;h-lu'\\ n brown stone bearing an 
inscription in balin. which was sent to Lincoln after his election for 
the second time as I'resident of the Lnited States, by a group of 
patriotic citizens of Rome. .\n interesting story is connected with this 
stone. In the early days of Roman histor)-. al)out five hundred and 
seventv-eight years before the birth of Christ, there ascended to the 
throne of Rome a wise and good king called Servius Tullius. His 
origin is more or less mythological but it is sup])osed that one or both 
of his parents were slaves. This king ruled with justice and benevo- 
lence and his earnest efforts were directed toward the amelioration of 
the condition of the common iieo])le. lie deprived the creditor of the 
right to make a slave f)f his impecunious debtor and even succeeded in 
establishing a constitution which gave these jioor wretches i)olitical 
inde])endence. 

These acts of the kirg aroused the jealou^y and haired of the 
nobility and they deiennined upon bis destruction. i'lfllius had two 
daughters. l)oth married. One called Tullia. of evil memory, killed her 
own husband and espoused Lucius Tarcpiinius. the husband of her 
gentler sister who had been n urcU-red bv this same Tarquinius. Tar- 
(juinius and Tullia at tlu' he.id of the mob seized the throne of Tullius. 
and that unfortunate monarch while walking unsuspectingly through 
the streets of his city, was struck down and assassinated by a follow^er 
of his wicked son-in-law. Mis bod\ was U'ft in the street wdiere it 
fell and his infamous dau.^bter Tullia drove her chariot over it in 
lrium])h. 

One of the earliest acts of Servius 'i'ullius had been to add to his 
cajiital three of the neighboring hills, thus making Rome the City of 
Seven Hills. Around the boundary of the new city he built a wall of 
stone wdiich encircled Rome for seven lumdred years and was always 
known as the wall of Servius Tullius. 

During the centuries of oppression and tyranny which make up 
the history of Rome, there has always existed a small minority who 
have loved liberty and justice, and these few kept alive from generation 
to generation the memory of Servius Tullius. Looking on from afar 
at the four years' struggle in the United States, in which freedom for 
the down-trodden was eventually gained, the patriots of Rome saw in 
President Lincoln, wdiose great heart and steadfast courage had liber- 



21 

ated four million slaves, an embodiment of their ideal of the ancient 
king whose memory they so lovingly cherished. Therefore, after his 
second election as President, they took from the Wall of Servius 
Tullius, where it had reposed for more than two thousand years, a 
fragment of stone. On it they engraved in Latin an inscription which, 
translated, reads : 

"TO ABRAHAM LINCOLN, PRESIDENT FOR THE SECOND 
TIME OF THE AMERICAN REPUBLIC, CITIZENS OF ROME 
PRESENT THIS STONE, FROM THE WALL OF SERVIUS TUL- 
LIUS, BY WHICH THE MEMORY OF EACH OF THESE ASSERT- 
ORS OF LIBERTY MAY BE ASSOCIATED. 1865." 

This stone they sent to President Lincoln. In all probability it 
reached him before his death and with his characteristic modesty he 
forebore to mention it. It was eventually discovered in the basement 
of the White House. H\' an act of Congress, 1870, introduced by 
Senator Shelby M. Culloni, of Illinois, the stone was transferred to 
Springfield to be placed in the National Lincoln Monument then in 
process of erection. 

The stone is of conglomerate sandstone pronounced by a geol- 
ogist of Illinois to be in all probability artificial. It is 37 ^^ inches long, 
!!• inches wide and 8^34 inches thick. The upper edge and ends are 
rough as though broken by a hammer ; the lower edge and the side 
which bears the inscription are dressed true. The stone has no in- 
trinsic beauty, but because of its associations, it will always l)e an 
object of interest to all lovers of liberty. 

Alan\- things used by Lincoln in his lifetime are preserved in 
Memorial Mall. Here are his surveying instruments, the compass, 
chain and Jacob stafi' and the worn old black leather saddlebags in 
which he carried imi)lenients and papers when as a young man, he 
went surveying in SanganK)n County. There is a soap dish which 
was in his bedroom and curtain fixtures, tassel and cord from his 
Springfield home. There are two small black cane-seated chairs which 
are of his first set of parlor furniture ; a big ink-stained deal table 
and a plain wooden rocker both of which were in his law office in 
Springfield at the time he was elected President. 

In a glass frame is a faded piece of white silk with a pattern of red 
flowers. Deeper than the red of the flowers are dark stains of blood. 
This bit of silk is from the gown of the actress, Miss Laura Keen, 
who acted the leading role in "Our American Cousin" at Ford's 
Theater in Washington, on the night of Lincoln's assassination. 
When the murderer's shot rang out and the audience sat stunned and 
horror stricken. Miss Keene stepi)ed from the stage into the President's 
box and took his wounded head upon her knees. She herself, one 
year later brought the piece of blood-stained silk to Springfield and pre- 
sented it to the National Lincoln Monument. 

Among the number of Lincoln's personal letters which may be 
seen at the Monument, is a cojjy of one of his own hand, written to 
a little girl in Westchester County, New York, which shows his never 



22 

failing courtesy and kindness. This little girl of thirteen. Miss 
Grace Bedell, wrote to Mr. Lincoln during his first campaign for 
President, telling him she thought he would look better if he would 
wear whiskers. In the midst of all the turmoil and excitement of the 
political l)attle he had time to stop and write a personal reply to a 
child. In all seriousness he told her that as he had never worn whisk- 
ers; he feared it might be considered a piece of "silly affectation" if 
he were to begin to cultivate them. Not long afterwards, however, 
he did raise the bean! which he wore until his death. He never forgot 
his little friend and on a later occasion when he made a hurried trip 
through the town delivering campaign speeches, he called for the child 
and taking her hand, he talked with her and told her that she might 
ob.serve, he had decided to follow her advice. 

There are many photographs of scenes made forever dear to the 
American people because of their association with the life of Lincoln; 
his birthplace in Kentucky ; the cabin in which his parents were mar- 
ried ; the little home in Indiana where his mother died; the wooden 
shack in which he kept post office and store in New Salem, Sangamon 
County, Illinois; the old Rutledge mill where he probably met his first 
love, Ann Rutledge; his law office in Springfield; the fine old home 
in which he married Mrs. Lincoln; the tavern where they spent their 
honeymoon and many other photographs. 

An almost life-size portrait of Lincoln was presented to the Monu- 
ment by Thomas J. Lincoln, a cousin of the President. This pic- 
ture was painted by Dr. K. E. Fuller, of Keokuk, Iowa, and was 
awarded as a prize to the iMjuntain Green Wide Awakes, a political 
organization which took active part in the campaign of 18G0. The 
Wide Awakes carried the picture in their parades and kept it until 
after Mr. Lincoln's second inauguration as President. They then 
presented it to Thomas J. Lincoln, of Fountain Green, who fulfilled 
a long cherished desire when, on his eighty-third l)irthday he carried 
it himself to Lincoln's tomb in 1906. 

In Memorial llall may be seen an immense volume containing 
1)30 quarto pages. It is made up of copies of the notes and resolutions 
of sympathy which flooded the White House after the assassination 
of Lincoln. By a joint resolution of both Houses of Congress, this 
volume was published in ISfii. in order to preserve these expressions of 
sympathy which were sent from all parts of the world, written in 
not less than twenty-five languages. Legislative bodies, corporations, 
voluntary societies, public assembles called together for the occasion 
and private individuals, one and all expressed their horror at the 
crime and their warm sympathy with the bereaved family of the 
President and the American pe()i)le. A number of the original docu- 
ments sent to Mrs. Lincoln and the United States Government, after 
Lincoln's death, were forwarded by Robert T. Lincoln, son of the 
i 'resident, to John T. Stuart, of Springfield, in 18T1, and these now 
hang framed on tlie walls of Memorial Hall. Most of them are on 
heavy vellum or parchment and are beautifully embossed. 



23 




irrr/^/^rr/yr^<^#?gg5 &iaaiiwi««iiiii^ 



Views in Old Salem State Park. 
The Rutledge Inn (at top) the Custodian's Residence and Museum; Re- 
stored Lincoln and Berry Store; View of Sangamon from New Salem Hill. 



24 

OLD SALEM PARK. 

0\l" OF THE nevvc'sl acct-ssion in ])ark i)ropcrtics is Old Salem, 
ilu' former home of Abraham Lincoln, located on the Sangamon 
l\i\er. near Petersburg. 

A cani])aign to create interest in making Old Salem a State park 
was undertaken 1)\' ihe ( )ld Salem Lincoln League and the coopera- 
tion of j^rominent ])ersons all over the world was enlisted, rjovcrnor 
Len Small, David Lloyd George, premier of I'jigland. and President 
W'dodrow W ilson were among those who subscribed toward the in- 
itial work and are charter members of the League. Through the 
instrumcntalilN' of the ( )ld Salem Liniciln League, the title to the tract 
of some sixty acres was made over to the State bv William Randolph 
Hearst free of cost in the year P)19. 

Abraham Lincoln reached New Salem in lsi31 after becoming 
ac([uainled with many of the citizens of the village as the result of 
a barge trip down the Sangamon River. The scow on which he was 
traveling with a cargo of merchandise stuck on the Old Salem dam 
and forced a delay. It is said, that on this occasion, Lincoln saw 
for the first tiiue Ann Kutledge, (l;uighter of the tavern keeper, with 
whom he fell in love. 

It was at C)ld Salem that Lincoln kept store, practiced surveying, 
gained fame for whipi)ing the Clary gang, was made a captain in the 
l)lack TLiwk War. studied law and was elected to the Legislature, 
then sitting at \'andalia. 

The historic village was founded on an eminence three years 
before Lincoln's advent by John M. Cameron and James Rutledge. 
Tt was here that the name "Honest Abe" is said to have attached it- 
self to Lincoln because of his scrupulous honesty in dealing with 
customers while kee])ing store. It is related that once when he had 
made incorrect change, he walked three miles after (putting time to 
ma]<e rei)aration. ( )1(1 Salem was at the height of its ])rosperity when 
Lincoln arri\ed and its decline set in soon after his departure seven 
years later. 

Research work of the Old Salem Lincoln League brought to 
view the depressions made along the forgotten streets by the founda- 
tions of the then existing buildings, which it is the intention of the 
De])arlment of Public Works and Buildings to restore. A beginning 
on this program was made, before the .'-^tale obtained title, bv the 
League members who spent days of ])ersonal service with pick, shovel 
and hammer. In addition to the foundations, the discoveries include 
the almost obliterated road leading out of the village to Springfielfl 
and the path from OtTuts' store, where Lincoln clerked, down to the 
grist mill where he was wont to officiate. 

Among the buildings already restored or to be restored are: 
Rutledge Inn, where Lincoln boarded and courted Ann Rutledge; 
Berry and Lincoln store: Hill and ^k^Namara store; ITerndon's store; 
Ofifut's store; Martin Waddell's hat making establishment; Minta 
Graham school; Bale's carding machine house; Joshua ]\Iiller's black- 



25 



smith shop; Onstott's cooper shop, the residence of Dr. Allen and a 
number of others whose owners have been identified. 

A custodians cottage and relic house was dedicated on May 19, 
1921 by Governor Small in the presence of 5,000 visitors. This build- 
ing was constructed in harmony with the type of those days. It is of 
fire proof construction and will house the relics, mementos, etc. of Old 
Salem, a great many of which are now on hand and many more have 
been promised. Later the program of the state includes the restoration 
of the old grist mill. 




THK OLiD MILL AT OLry SALEM. 

Thi.s is llic onlv picture in exi.stence showing the actual surroundings and 
the orifjinal mill at Old Salcni. The original mill combined a grist and saw mill. 
The open building is the saw mill and shows the "up and down" saw. In the 
closed room cornmeal and Hour was made. The buildings were set on pillars of 
lock in pens. The bridle path came down the face of the bluff just south of the 
Offut store which was located on the top of the hill just back of the trees. It is 
said the boys, who usuall.v were sent to mill horseback, with the grist, would 
meet there, tie their horses, lieads upward along the side of the hill at an angle of 
45 degrees and all go swimming while waiting for their cornmeal to be ground. 
The original mill burned and was replaced by another for making meal and 
flour alone and later this burned and was never replaced. 



26 




27 

VANDALIA COURT HOUSE. 

THE first capitol building of the State of Illinois was built on its 
present site in the city of Vandalia in 1823 and now stands in 
the midst of a park some 330 feet square, filled with a large 
growth of forest trees. It is a plain two-story building, constructed of 
brick, with heavy walls built to stand the waste of time and is now a 
sturdy, old-fashioned building, encrusted with the rust of antiquity. 
It, with the plot of ground on which it stands, was donated by the 
Slate of Illinois to the county of Fayette in 1839. 

The building is in a good state of preservation and is as originally 
constructed with the exception that the large brick columns that sup- 
ported the north and south porches were taken down in 1899 and re- 
placed by the present iron columns and structures. 

The interior of the building is as well preserved and cared for as 
the exterior. The lower half of the building is divided by a wide hall 
sixteen feet in width running north and south : a similar hall nine feet 
wide divides the building east and west. These halls divide the lower 
floor into four large rooms. 

There is a massive stairway from the lower floor to the second 
floor, which is the original stairway, constructed in the building. From 
the landing at the top of the stairway, turning west, you enter what 
was the House of Representatives, preserved intact. One historic and 
memorable fact connected with this legislative room, is the large win- 
dow at the southwest corner of the room. It was out of this window 
that Abraham Lincoln jumped, while a member of the legislature, then 
in session, in order to defeat a quorum. By this act, he broke the 
(|Uorum and prevented the continuation of the capitol of Illinois at 
this place for another twenty years. It is also a historic fact that 
within this legislative hall in 1833, that the City by the Lake (Chicago) 
was granted her first village charter. 

Here Governor Bond, Coles, Edwards, Menard, and Reynolds, 
presided over the destinies of Illinois. Here sat our first Supreme 
Court. Here was the place of assembly of the law making power of 
such men as y\braham Lincoln, Stephen A. Douglas, John Thomas, 
Elias Kane, Daniel P. Cook, David Blackwell, and others. 

Since 1839 the capitol building has been used by the county of 
Fayette for court house purposes. It has now become inadequate. 
The county is forced to build a new court house elsewhere or raze this 
old historic structure. The Fifty-first General Assembly, feeling the 
people of the State of Illinois would regret the destruction of the 
building, with its archives and historic memories, appropriated $60,000 
for its purchase. 

Plans arc in preparation by the Department of Public Works and 
Buildings for the making of needed repairs, and the converting of the 
lower floor into a large assembly or rest room for visitors. 



1^8 

DOUGLAS MONUMENT PARK. 

TIMS site consists of two acres and is located in Chicago. It is 
bounded by Woodland Park, the Illinois Central Railroad, 35th 
Street and by the alley west of the Illinois Central Railroad. 

In the fall of 1801 a group of friends of the late Stephen A. 
Douglas met in Chicago and organized the Douglas Monument Asso- 
ciation. The governing body of this organization was a board of 
trustees. The purposes of this association were those of erecting and 
maintaining a monument in the city of Chicago in memory of Stephen 
A. Douglas. A fund was to be collected for these purposes. 

Apparently the purposes of this Association failed of accomplish- 
ment, for in an act of February 16, 1865, the General Assembly au- 
thorized the Governor to purchase in the name of the State of Illinois, 
the plot of ground in which reposed the remains of Douglas. Accord- 
ing to the act, the property was to be held by the State of Illinois as a 
burial place for Stephen A. Douglas and for no other purpose. The 
sum of $25,000 was appropriated for its purchase. In the spring of 
1865, pursuant to the act of February 16, 1865, Mrs. Adele Douglas, 
the widow, conveyed the property to the Governor of the State of 
Illinois and to his successors in office for a consideration of $25,000. 

In an act of May 21, 1877, the Legislature appointed the follow- 
ing commissioners, with authority to proceed with the erection of a 
monument : J. D. Caton, Robert T. Lincoln, B. F. Findley, Thomas 
Drummond, Lyman Trumbull, Melville W. Fuller. Potter Palmer, 
Ralph Plumb and Gustav Koerner. The final report of the commis- 
sioners was made on May 28, 1881, the total expenditure being in the 
neighborhood of $75,000. 

Douglas Monument, by Leonard Volk, is similar in type to that of 
the Grant Moniiment in Lincoln Park. It consists of a granite base, 
surmounted by a bronze figure of the distinguished senator, while at 
the four corners of the sarcophagus-like base are bronze allegorical 
figures representing Illinois, History, Justice and Eloquence. The 
shaft is 101 feet in height. The base of the monument contains a 
crypt with a marl)le sarcophagus which contains the remains of Illinois' 
gifted son. 

The sarcophagus bears this inscription : 

Stephen A. Douglas 

Born 

April 23, 1813. 

Died 

June 3, 1861. 

"Tell my children to obey the laws 
and uphold the Constitution." 



29 

A custodian's cottage has now been erected on this site, a new iron 
fence has been installed and other improvements are under way. A 
register will be kept for visitors following out the plan inaugurated 
directly after the completion of the Monument. From June 13 to 
October 30, 1880, -1,635 visitors from thirty-five states and territories 
and from nearly every part of the world came to pay respect to this 
renowned statesman. 



I 




Douglas Monument. 



30 

THE LINCOLN HOMESTEAD. 

THE LINCOLN llOAl 1':S'J\I':A1), ihc only residence ever owned 
by Abraham Lincoln, and the one occupied by him at the time 
of his nomination and election to the presidency, situated at 
the northeast corner Eighth and Jackson streets, Springfield, is a 
plain, old fashioned two story, wooden house of -twelve rooms, fronting 
west on Eighth street, built in ISUD by Rev. Charles Dresser, and pur- 
chased from him by Mr. Lincoln, May 2, 1844 for a consideration of 
$1,500. The frame work and all the floors of the old house are of 
oak ; the laths of hickory, split out by hand ; the doors, door frames, 
window frames and weather-boarding of black walnut. The 
nails, sparingly used in its construction are all hand made. 
The most noticeable featiu"es of its construction from the 
builder's point of view is the prodigal use of solid walnut 
and strict economy in the use of iron — wooden pegs being 
used wherever practicable in lieu of the customary nail. At the time 
of its construction it was one of the more pretentious residences of 
Springfield, located on the outskirts of the town, but now close to the 
business center of the city, which has grown up around it. At 
the time of its purchase by Mr. Lincoln it was j^ainted white with 
green window shutters, after the fashion of the times, and but a 
story and a half in height. During one of Mr. Lincoln's campaigning 
tours in the "P^orties", Mrs. Lincoln, wdiile having a new roof put 
on the residence, took occasion to have it converted into a full two 
story house as it appears today. No changes have been made in the 
house since Mr. Lincoln left it, except the repairs rendered necessary 
by decay of the original material. 

The lot on w^hich the house stands is elevated three or four feet 
above the grade of the street and a brick retaining wall the entire 
length of the west end and about one-foiuih the distance along the 
south side, built up vertically from the inner edge of the sidewalk, 
holds the earth in place on that part of the lot occupied by the house. 
Surmounting this wall there is a low fence of wooden pickets. The 
high board fence connecting with the brick wall and continuing along 
the south side to the rear of the lot cutting of¥ the view of the liack 
yard from the street, has been removed in recent years and the sodded 
lawm back of the house slopes gradually to the sidewalk without any 
intervening fence or wall. Michvay of the west end of the lot a 
flight of five stone steps, let into the brick wall, leads up from the 
sidewalk to the level of the lot and three more such steps to the old 
walnut door which now opens to 20,000 or more visitors every year. 

After Mr. Lincoln left the house in 1861 it was occu])ie(l by 
various tenants, some of whom were none too scrupulous in carin<^ for 
the premises. In 1883 O. H. Oldroyd, now of Washington. D. C. 
rented the house and installed in it his private collection of Lincoln 
mementos and made of the house a museum for the display of his 
large and interesting collection to the general public. After the con- 
veyance of the property to the State by Robert Todd Lincoln in 1887, 



31 



an appropriation was made by the General Assembly for its repair 
and maintenance; Mr. Oldroyd was appointed custodian and free access 
given to the general ])ublic. Upon the appointment in 18i)o of another 
custodian Mr. Oldroyd removed his collection of curios to Washington 
since which time there has been no elfort to make it a repository of 
mementos of the great President. The old furniture of the house, sold 
in iMIil and afterwards taken to Chicago by the family that purchased 
il, was destroyed by the great fire of 1871. Aside from the old law 
ofiice book case there are few articles in the house to connect one with 
Lincoln's life in Illinois. 

In this old house \\\{h so little in its appearance to distinguish it 
from thousands of others built about the same time, Mr. Lincoln took 
up his residence in the second year after his marriage and here re- 
mained until his departure for Washington in 1861. Here the three 
youngest children of his family were born and here the eldest of the 
three died. Here he grew up from the small figure of a country lawyer 
to the full stature of a j^arty idol and the grand proportions of a 
national leader. Here were nutured his early-born ambitions and 
here his greatest political aspiration was realized. Here he closed his 
career as a citizen of Illinois and took up the work to which he gave 
his life, that "the government of the people, by the people and for the 
])co])lc might not perish from the earth." 




-•^»tj*i 



IjINCOln homestead. 



33 

STARVED ROCK. 

From the book'"Siarv((l Rock" l)y I'.ihiar Lee Masteks. 

As a soul from wliom companionships subside 
The meaningless and onsweeping tide 
Of the river hastening, as it would disown 
Old ways and places, left this stone 
Of sand above the valley, to look down 
Miles of the valley, hamlet, village, town. 

It is head-gear of a chief whose head, 

Down from the implacable brow. 

Waiting is held below 

The waters, feather decked 

With blossoms blue and red, 

With ferns and vines ; 

Hiding beneath the- waters, head erect. 

His savage eyes and treacherous designs. 

It is a musing memory and memorial 
Of geologic ages 
Before the floods began lo fall ; 
The cenotaph of sorrows, pilgrimages 
Of Marquette and LaSalle. 
The eagles and the Indians left it here 
In solitude, blown clean 

Of kindred things : as an oak whose leaves are sere 
Fly over the valley when the winds are keen, 
And nestle where the earth receives 
Another generation of exhausted leaves. 

Fatigued with age its sleepless eyes look over 
Fenced fields of corn and wheat. 
Barley and clover. 

The lowered pulses of the river beat 
Invisibly by shores that stray 
In progress and retreat 
Past Utica and Ottawa, 
And past the meadow where the Illini 
Shouted and danced under the autumn moon. 
When toddlers and papooses gave a cray. 
And dogs were barking for the boon 
Of the hunter home again to clamorous tents 
Swoking beneath the evening's copper sky. 
Later the remnant of the Illini 
Climbed up this Rock, to die 
Of hunger, thirst, or down its sheer ascents 
Rushed on the spears of Pottawatomies, 
And found the peace 
Where thirst and hunger are unknown. 



33 

This is the tragic and the fateful stone 

Le Rocher or Starved Rock, 

A symbol and a paradigm, 

A sphinx of elegy and battle hymn, 

Whose lips unlock 

Life's secret, which is vanishment, defeat. 

In epic dirges for the races 

That pass and leave no traces 

Before new generations driven in the blast 

Of Time and Nature blowing round its head. 

Renewing in the Present what the Past 

Knew wholly, or in part, so to repeat 

Warfare, extermination, old things dead 

But brought to life again 

In Life's immortal pain. 

What Destinies confer. 
And laughing mock 
LaSalle, his dreamings stir 
To wander here, depart 
The fortress of Creve Coeur, 
Of broken heart. 
For this fort of Starved Rock? 
After the heart is broken then the clifif 
Where vultures flock ; 

And where below its steeps the savage skiff 
Cuts with a pitiless knife the rope let down 
For water. From the earth this Indian town 
Vanished and on this Rock the Illini 
Thirsting^ their buckets taken with the knife. 
Lay down to die. 

This is the land where every generation 

Lets down its buckets for the water of Life. 

We are the children and the epigone 

Of the Illini, the vanished nation. 

yVnd this starved scarp of stone 

Is now the emblem of our tribulation, 

The inverted cup of our insatiable thirst. 

The Illini by fate accursed. 

This land lost to the Pottawatomies, 

They lost the land to us, 

Wlio baiifled and idolatrous, 

And thirsting, spurred by hope 

Kneel upon aching knees. 

And with our eager hands draw up the bucketless rope. 



34 



This is the tragic, the symbolic face, 

Le Rocher or Starved Rock, 

Round which llie eternal turtles drink and swim 

And serpents green and strange, 

As race comes after race, 

War after war. 

This is the sphinx whose Menmon lips breathe dirges 

To empire's wayward star, 

And over the race's restless urges. 

Whose lips unlock 

Life's secret which is winishnicnt and change. 



STARVED ROCK PARK. 

Sr.\k\ i:i) ROCK IWRK, the scene of the last stand of the Illi- 
nois Indians, the site of Fort St. Louis, established by LaSalle, 
the site of the l*"irst Mission in Illinois estaljlished by leather 
Marciuette, the mecca ot' Romance and Indian Legendry, the most 
beautiful spot between tin- Allegheny and the Rocky AJountains, is a 
tract of some nine hundred acres of rough, wooded blufBand, mostly 
covered with timber and lying along the south bank of the Illinois River, 
midway between Ottaw-a and LaSalle. It has three road entrances; the 
western at the highway bridge crossing the Illinois river, one mile 
south of the village of Utica ; the eastern at the Salt Well, six miles 
west of Ottawa, and the southern, one nrile directly south of the rock. 
The entrance for river and interurban traffic is on the river bank at the 
base of Starved Rock. 

November 29, 1911, the State of Illinois, purchased from Ferdi- 
nand Walther. 280 acres of land at a price of $110,000.00. Since then 
by purchase the area of the park has been increased to approximately 
nine hundred acres. The value of the property w'ith improvements is 
$350,000.00. 

In the height of his glory, LaSalle, standing among the wooden 
r.'un])arts f)f l^^jrt St. Louis, looked dow'u upon a concourse of wild 
human life, lodges of bark and cabins of logs, clustered in the o])en 
places or along the vxVf^c of the hording forest; a mile and a half to 
the west the lodges of the Illinois, sheltering 6,000 souls and scat- 
tered along the valley the cantonments of numerous other tribes, mak- 
ing a total of 30,000 people gathered in the neighborhood. Today 
from the same spot, preserved as a public park and pleasure ground 
for the people of the State of Illinois, the visitor, facing the east, 
gazes down upon a glorious panoramic view of the wonderfully fertile 
and beautiful valley of the Illinois, doited here and there with fields 
of growing grain and showing evidences of thrifty husbandry. To the 
west, instead of the laboring s(|uaw, the warriors lounging in the sun 
and the whoop and shouts of the native Indian childn-n gamboling 
on the grass, may now be seen a modern hotel, its broad verandas filled 



35 

with guests and tourists ; a batliing pool and dancing pavillion from 
which may be heard the clamor and laughter of the modern pleasure 
seekers; and a children's ])laygr()und e(iuip[)ed with modern play ap- 
paratus. 

The entire jiark is ecpnpped with an electric light, sewage, and 
artesian water system, and a hre lighting apparatus. Low portions 
are drained "so as to safeguard health. 



HISTORY. 



DURING the summer of l()i;J Father Marquette and Louis joliet. 
accompanied by hve men, set out in two birch bark canoes from 
St. Ignace, under commission from Frontenac, French governor 
of Canada, to discover and explore the Mississippi. Four years earlier 
Father Marquette had met some Illinois Indians at his mission at the 
west end of Lake Superior. They had gone there to trade and invited 
the priest to come to their village. 1 he message from Frontenac, 
therefore, was received with pleasure by Marquette, for it promised 
him the opportunity to carry out his wish to go among these Indians. 

Advancing by the way of the Fox and the Wisconsin Rivers, they 
reached the Mississippi on June 17, the first Frenchman to behold that 
river. Having gone as far as the mouth of the Arkansas, they turned 
and following the advice of some Indians, that the route would 
bring them most quickly to the Lac de Illinois (Lake Michigan), began 
the ascent of the Illinois River. 

In the plain directly across and below the Rock of St. Louis, now 
Starved Rock, they came to Kaskaskia, then an Illinois Indian town of 
seventy- four cabins. Two years later Marcjuette returned to these 
Indians and established a mission, the first within the area of our 
State. He remained only a short time, and on account of continued 
illness, was forced to leave, his death occurring while on his way to 
St. Ignace. 

In KiS-?, LaSalle, accompanied by Tonti and over one hundred 
l''rench and Indians, returned from their trimnphal journey, in which 
they had descended the Illinois to the mouth of the Mississippi, and 
had taken possession of the valley in the name of the king of France. 
During the autumn of that year they came from Mackinac to this spot 
on the Illinois, where work was begun on a palisaded fort, at the top 
of the cliff, called l*'ort St. Louis. Two years before LaSalle had 
visited the Illinois town, then deserted, and had ordered Tonti to ex- 
annne the rock and make it his stronghold in case of necessity. This 
constituted an ideal site for defense, for it was ajiproachable from only 
one side and might easily be made an impregnable fortress for a few 
men against hundreds. According to the plan of LaSalle this was the 
beginning of what promised to be the lirst permanent colony in Illinois. 
He hoped to make it the great center for the western fur trade. It was 
his design also to take control of the mouth of the Mississippi by 



36 




37 

building another fort, and thus secure an outlet for the trade of the 
Illinois colony, as well as that of the entire valley. His imagination 
built up an empire in the valley which would lead to the dominance of 
b^rench power in the New World, and he began to make grants of 
land to his followers according to the feudal law of the time. 

During the winter, negotiations were carried on with the Indians 
gathered in the valley and nearby canyons. There were in the vicinity, 
besides the six thousand Illinois. Shawnee, Miami and numerous other 
tribes numbering an additional ten thousand or more. The scene pre- 
sented to LaSalle from this watch tower found a worthy word ])ain1er 
in Parkman, wdio wrote : "The broad, flat valley of the Illinois was 
spread beneath him like a map, bounded in the distance by its low wall 
of woody hills. The river wound at his feet in devious channels among 
islands bordered with lofty trees ; then far on the left, flowed calmly 
westward through the vast meadows, till its glittering blue ribbon was 
lost in hazy distance. LaSalle looked down from his rock on a con- 
course of wild human life. Lodges of bark and rushes, or cabins of 
logs, were clustered on the open plain or along the edges of the border- 
ing forests. Squaws labored, warriors lounged in the sun, children 
whooped and gamboled on the grass. Beyond the river, a mile and a 
half on the left, the banks were studded once more with the lodges of 
the IlHnois." 

LaSalle was able to make his own terms, for these Indians had 
already struggled unsuccessfully against the Iroquois, terrible enemy 
of the western tribes. They looked upon the French as allies who 
would be able to foil an attack by the warriors of that powerful con- 
federacy, wdiich, at the time, seemed imminent. The Iroquois failed 
to appear and the summer passed peacefully away. But to LaSalle 
they were months of gloom, for his stamich friend and supporter, 
Count Frontenac, had been recalled. In his stead reigned LaBarre, 
as governor of the French possessions in America. His jealous dis- 
position soon led him to accuse LaSalle of attempting to build up a 
kingdom in the heart of the New World. His enmity extended so far 
that be learned with satisfaction of the advance of the Iroquois, and 
signified to their representative his desire to have LaSalle put to death. 
By his order supplies were cut ofif from the little company of French- 
men at b'ort St. Louis ; LaSalle's propertv in upper Canada was seized ; 
and bis influence with the king was assailed. Determnied to regain his 
]xisition, LaSalle set out for Quebec, meeting on the way thither a 
representative of the governor, who was sent to take possession of the 
new fort. 

LaSalle soon sailed for France, where he gained permission to 
appear in the presence of the great monarch, Louis XIV. and made 
his plea. His plan to build a fort on the Gulf of Mexico, which would 
be a menace to the Spanish possessions, and another fort sixty leagues 
above the mouth of the River Colbert, or Mississippi, which would 
constitute a stronghold against the advance of the English, met with 
instant favor. An ofificer was dispatched to LaBarre w^ith the royal 
command that he should restore all of LaSalle's possessions. 



38 




39 

LaSalle, himself, was appointed leader of the expedition to be 
sent to the Gulf of Mexico, and finally succeeded, after overcoming 
many difficulties, in setting out with four hundred men on board four 
vessels. Failure seemed to shadow the expedition from the start, for 
scarcely had they sailed from Rochelle (July 2-i, 1684:) when trouble 
arose between LavSalle and Captain Beaujeu, who had charge of the 
chief vessel. One ship was captured by Spaniards, and January, 1085, 
another went aground on the coast of Texas and was lost. 

LaSalk' and liis followers went ashore and built a fort (Fort St. 
Louis). Beaujeu soon deserted in one of the remaining vessels, and 
the other was wrecked. Thus the little colony, with all means of re- 
turn to France cut off, and surrounded by hostile Indians, was in a 
desperate condition. y\ll attempts to find the mouth of the Mississippi 
failing, LaSalle, with seventeen half starved men, set out on horse- 
back with the hope of reaching Canada, and thus securing succor for 
the garrison of twenty left in the fort. Reaching the bank of the 
Trinity River, LaSalle was killed by one of his followers. 

In the meantime an attempt was made by the Iroquois on March, 
1G83, to capture Fort St. Louis from the Illinois, but after an un- 
successful siege of six days they withdrew. In 168-t Tonti was placed 
in full command of the fort. During the month of September, three 
years later, a party of seven Frenchmen, LaSalle's companions from 
the gulf colony, saw with great relief after their toilsome journey, 
the clifi:', surmounted by the fort, rising before them. The garrison 
received them with a salute of musketry. 

Ascending the circuitous path at the rear of the rock, they 
found on reaching the top that it was encircled for defense by a pal- 
isade and by a numl)er of dwellings, a storehouse and a chapel. A 
number of Indian lodges were within this area. In the spring, they 
set out for Canada without giving any information to Tonti and his 
associates of the death of LaSalle. An account of the journey was 
given by Joutel, one of the company, who has also given a faithful 
description of the fort and surroundings when the}^ visited it. 

"h^ort Louis." lie writes, "is in the country of the Illinois, and 
seated on a steej) rock, about two hundred feet high, the river running 
at the bottom of it. It is only fortified with stakes and palisades and 
some houses advancing lo the edge of the rock. It has a very spacious 
esplanade, or i)lace of arms. The place is naturally strong, and might 
be made so by art, with little expense. Several of the natives live in 
it, in their huts. I cannot give an account of the latitude it stands in, 
for want of ])roper instrumenls to take an observation, but nothing 
can be pleasanter ; and it may l)e truly affinued that the country of 
the Illinois enjoys all that can make it accomplished, not only as to 
ornament, but also for its i)l('ntiful production of all things requisite 
for the support of human life. 

"The plain, which is watered by the river, is ])eautifnl l)y two 
small hills, about half a league distant from the fort, and those hills 
are covered with groves of oaks, walnut trees and other sorts I have 



40 




41 




Ice Pillar in St. Louis Canyon Starved Rock Park. 



43 

named elsewhere. The fields are full of grass, growing up very high. 
On the sides of the hills is found a gravelly sort of stone, very fit to 
make lime for building. There are also many elaypits. fit for making 
of earthenware, bricks and tiles and along the river there are coal- 
])its. the coal whereof has been tried and fimnd \erv good." 

1 le described the temperate climate, which was suitable he thought, 
for {\\v growing of Indian corn; and the production of wild grajjcs 
and wilil apple and pear trees in great (|uanliiies. lie found the 
IKinois Indians naturally lierce. revengeful and nnirust worthy. The 
men were occupied in going to war and in hunting. whiU' all labor was 
performed by the squaws. 

During Sc])tember, IdSS, Tonli learned from some Arkansas In- 
dians of the dealh of hi> friend and leader, and determined to go 
to the rescue of the forsaken colon\- on the coa^l of Texas. It was 
his aim also to advance with a war jtarty to the Kio (irande and secure 
that territory, since war had again been declared between b^'ance and 
Sjxiin. With four other b'renchmen and three Indians, they left the 
fort in October in a pirogue. Before reaching the lied River, early in 
AjM'il, he had been deserted by all save two of his companions. They 
still pushed on for a time, but were coni])ellecl to retrace their steps. 
It was a toilsome journey during the hot |ul\- and August days. Be- 
cause of the immdated i)lains. due to ilu' hea\\ rains, they were forced 
to abandon the horses, which they had gotten from the Indians. "We 
crossed," said Tonti, "fifty leagues of flooded coinitr\-. The water 
where it was least deep, reached half-wa\- up the legs; and in all this 
tract w c found only one little island of dry land. \\\' were obliged 
to slee]) on the trunks of two great trees placed togt'tber. and to make 
our fire on the trees, to eat our dogs, and to carry om- baggage across 
large tracts covered with reeds. In short, T never sufi'ered so nnich in 
niv life as in this journey to the .\1 ississiiijii. which \\H' reached on the 
11th of Jul\-." In September tbe\- arri\ed at I'Orl .'s.t. l.ouis. 

l-'or twelve years Tonti remained at this ])ost carrying on a trade 
in furs. All outposts on the grc-al lakes and all other advanced ]:)osts 
were ordered abandoned by the King in 1698. bA'cn with this seem- 
ing advantage, because of governmental restrictions, the trade at Fort 
St. T.ouis decreased. Owing to Indian raids, the route by the Fox 
and Wisconsin rivers gained precedence over that of the Illinois. 

A royal order of the year n02 declared that l-'ort St. Louis was 
to be abandoned and that Tonti was to join D'lberville on the Lower 
Mississippi. Three years earlier the Illinois, still fearful of the Iro- 
quois, had deserted their village and located at the new Kaskaskia on 
the Mississippi. 

Fort St. Louis was reoccupicd by French traders for a brief time, 
but a traveler visting the spot in 1731 found only ruins. 

But Starved Rock was the scene of numerous conflicts between 
the tribes dining the succeeding half century. In 17*??, we are told, 
the Peoria, pursued by the Foxes, took refuge on this stronghold. 
In the siege which followed, the Foxes lost so many of their war- 



43 




French Canyon— Starved Rock Park. 



44 




45 

riors that they withdrew. None of these encounters is so full of dra- 
matic interest as the one in which tradition has originated the name 
Starved Rock. Even if the evidence must be regarded as doubtful, 
the story may well be retold, for through it the name will survive. 

In 1769 the story goes, Pontiac, chief of the Ottawa, while 
on a visit to Cahokia, was killed by a Kaskaskia Indian. The Ot- 
tawa, aided by the Pottawatomi, in their efforts to avenge this loss, 
began a war of extermination against the Illinois. The remnant of 
this tribe hnally sought refuge on the site of Fort St. Louis. Driven 
to desperation by hunger, they hnally strove to cut their way through 
the ranks of their besiegers. In their enfeebled condition they were 
an easy prey for the enemy, and all save eleven perished. No tribe ever 
again bore the name IlHnois. 



GEOLOGIC HISTORY. 

WITH the essential facts relative to the geographic features and 
geologic formations of this region in mind, it is not difficult to 
sketch the geologic history of this very attractive region. The 
Lower Magnesium Limestone was deposited in shallow marine waters. 
It points to a time when the sea, probably from the Gulf region, ad- 
vanced into the interior of the continent and rested here for a sufficient 
long period of time to account for the accumulation of shell material, 
and possibly the precipitation of some lime from those sea- waters to 
give rise to the 250 feet in thickness of this formation. The fossil 
forms of the marine animals that lived at that time may be found in 
this limestone. Following. the accumulation of lime there must have 
been a retreat of the sea, and therefore an exposure of the formation 
in the sea bottom to erosion, for the St. Peters sandstone rests on an 
eroded .surface of the Lower Magnesium limestone within this region. 
The presence of the sandstone suggests the re-advance of the sea, and 
a long period of deposition of sands, which nmst have been brought in 
to this sea by rivers from neighboring lands. Following the deposition 
of this St. Peters sandstone, there was another shifting of the shore 
line of this ancient interior sea, for the Trenton limestone rests on an 
uneven and eroded surface of St. Peters. These unconformable rela- 
tionshii)s below and above the St. Peters sandstone indicate partial 
withdrawal of the sea from the interior of the continent. Such move- 
ments of the sea waters were presumably due to movements in the 
crustal portion of the earth much more widespread than the area under 
consideration. 

After the Trenton Limestone, and possible other formations, had 
accumulated, there was an uplift and deformation of this region. The 
rock strata, which had been deposited one upon the other with slight 
interruptions, rested in a nearly horizontal position, but the conditions 
just west of Utica and in the valley of Vermilion River indicate that 
before the Coal Measures had been deposited this portion of the State 



46 




47 

had been arclu'd so llial {hv strata dipped, westward at an angle of 25 
degrees and declined from the crest of tlie fold eastward at an angle 
so low that it is not noticeable to the eye, but may be a])preciated by a 
coni])arison ol elevations above sea level of a given formation over 
wide areas. 1 bus, the St. Peters Sandstone may be said to turn from 
a nearly horizontal i)osition to the east of Vermilion Creek downward 
and pass (|uickl_\- below the stn'face. At Starved Rock, the base of the 
St. Peter's Sandstone is about -IM) feet above the sea level. At the 
eastern margin of the State of Illinois, the base of that same formation 
has an a])proxitnate ])osition of al)OUt HOO feet below sea level. Ae- 
conipan}ing the u])lift and deformation of the formations, there was a 
disintegration of the rocks, and a wearing away of the material bv 
streams. A period, undoubtedly many thousands of years in length, 
ela])sed duriiig which the region was exposed as a land area, and was 
therefore subject to the agents causing rock decay and to the work of 
streams. Following this period of weathering and erosion, there was 
a readvance of shallow waters, deposition of sands and clays, numerous 
partial retreats of the water, and the accumulation of vast quantities 
of vegetable matter in marginal swamps or lagoons, new advances of 
the sea b\' which the vegetable matter which had but just accumulated, 
was buried under silts and sands. The repetition of such ])rocesses 
many times, through many thousands of years, results in the accumula- 
tion of the formation v> hich is known as the Coal Measures. As far 
as the geologic History has yet l)een determined, the sea retreated from 
this portion of the State of Illinois at the close of the Coal Measures 
time and has never returned. Since then, there has, therefore, been a 
renewal of rock decay and stream erosion. 

This long period of erosion was interrupted by the advance of a 
great ice-sheet from the northeast. It is probable that the ice invaded 
this region more than once, but the material now found within the 
area of the ])ro]:)osed park a|)])ears to be that deposited by a single ice 
acKance. Since the ice melted away, the valley of the present Illinois 
carried away vast floods from the glacier, and in later epochs within 
the glacial period, when the ice stood near the present outskirts of the 
city of Chicago, the great valley at the base of Starved Rock received 
the waters from the melting ice to the northeast, and as that ice re- 
treatetl, received the waters from Lake Chicago, the ancestor of Lake 
Michigan. Later the ancient river drained off the waters which cov- 
ered the area now occupied by Lake Erie, Lake Huron and Lake 
Superior. Thus, the valley bordering the proposed park has formerly 
contained waters similar in amount to those that flow over Niagara 
Falls today. 1die ])resent river is l)ut a shrunken remnant of the broad 
rivt'r which forn)erl\- drained, by this route, to the MississipjM \"alley. 



GEOLOGICAL FORMATIONS. 

The Lower MiU/iirsiiiiit Liiiirsfoiic — This formation is exposed in 
the valley bottom and at the north bluff of the Illinois River, just 
below Utica, It does not outcrop within the area of the proposed 



48 





^■■■■^H 






l^l 


1 




^F n^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^HH^H 










^]^H 


b^H 




'19 f^''^ 


^^^^^IfH 




■i JBg- 


^^^H 






^B 



49 




Wild Cat i^anyon — Starved Rock Park. 



50 

park, but underlies the park an-a. Where it is exposed in ilic \icinit\- 
of Utica. it is l)eing used in the nianul'acturc of nalnral cement. 

.S7. Piter's Scnidstonc — This formation is ihe one l)est exposed 
within the area of the proposed park. It t'onns the bluffs of the Illi- 
nois valley for several miles upstream from a point between Utica and 
LaSalle. It is the formation which constitutes the bluffs, within the 
park. Starved koek. the Devil's Nose, Lover's Leap rock, are all com- 
])Osed of this St. I'eter'^ sandstone, and the walls of the canyons are 
excellent exposures ot this rock. 

Ihc rrciitoii Lliiu'stdiir — Ibis tormalion is not exposed within 
the area of the proposed ]iaik. but may be seen about two miles west 
of the western end of the park along the banks of the X'ermilion River. 

/"//(' Coal Mcasiirrs — A series of shales, san.dstones, limestones, 
and coal seams constitute what is known as the Pennsylvania form- 
ation, or, as it is sometimes called, the ( 'oal Measures. Within the 
area of the proposed ])ark. there is a variable thickness of coal measure 
shales, which carry with them some coal overlying the St. Peter's 
sandstone formation. These rocks arc- exposed on the u])lands at 
various ])oints. 

The Clacial Drift — Overlying much of the upland surface there 
is a mantle of heterogeneous material composed, in large part, of clay, 
but carrying within that clay many stones and boulders. This forma- 
tion differs from all those wldch have been thus far described in that 
It is not stratitied. Tlu' material is not assoiii'd. the large and small 
stones are irregularl)- distribuled throug'ioul the clay. Some of the 
material has e\identlv come great dislanc-es. 

Tlic I \iUcy Alliiviinn — 'I he most recent or youngest geologic for- 
mation within this region is composed of the sands, gravels, and silts 
wliich the Illinois Ri\'er has distributed over its bottom lands. This 
formation is so ix'cent that it ma\' ])e considered modern. It is, in 
fact, still in the ])roces-^ of accunudating, for with each overflow of 
the river some slight addition is maiU' to the anioinu ot alluvimn on 
the bottom lands. 



BIRD LIFE. 

P)^■ Frank M. Woohkiii', Curator, Lincoln Park. Chicago. 

IN the Park, the birds have received nuich needed protection, and 
have increased to such an extent that the Ornithologist can tind 
more varieties of birds nesting on and about Starved Rock than 
any area of the same extent in northern Illinois. This statement can 
be verified l)v the classes of students which have visited the Rock dur- 
ing the past year or two. J^'our members of a class which I brought 
to Starved Rock two years ago from Saturday noon to Sunday night 
recorded fifly-eight (."iS) varieties of resident birds. 



ni 




53 

The more common birds, such as the house wren, cat bird, robin, 
and wood thrush fairly swarm on the grounds in the early mornings, 
while the peculiarly rugged inaccessible walls of the canyons aitord 
safe nesting places for the solitude-loving species. At the Deer Park 
canyon we hnd the rough-wing swallow nesting in the crevasses of the 
rock on ore side of the high cliff and on the other side, where the 
rock is reiilaced by a deposit of soil, may be found a colony of bank 
swallows. 

I-'astened to the rock kncnvn as Lover's Leap, just above the first 
prominent ledge overhanging the river, may be found the curious 
bottle-sha])ed nests of the cliff swallow. These nests are made of hun- 
dreds of small pellets of clay whicli are thoroughly masticated by the 
bird, the sticky saliva forming a wonderfully hard cement house. 
After the young swallows have left the nest the English sparrow takes 
possession, but the young sparrows are so much larger and heavier 
that the nest crumbles from the roi-k and the birds are drowned in 
the river. 

Starved J<ock is about the nt^rthern nesting range of the turkey 
vulture, and these majestic' birds can be seen every day circling about 
the rock, ]>articularl\- o\er Horseshoe and Cutris canyons. 

A very few nnles from Starved Rock are the great swamps at 
I lenr\ , Illinois, and tlie Kankakee River, the breeding places of 
man\' ducks, heron, and the bald eagle. ( )ne is aj^t to see a stray 
bird of any of tlu'se s])ecies along the river. In the spring and fall 
nian\- migratory birds, ^ueh as warblers, hawk, etc., pass to and from 
the nesting ])laces in the far north. I>y studying the birds throughout 
the year we could swell our list to ;U)0 or more species. 



POINTS OF INTEREST. 

T() those who nnist dwell and ])ass their lives in the artificial en- 
vironments of the city, the natural l)eauty of the Park appeals 
stronglv. It is a veritable treasure house to the nature lover. 
Xo ]!en can picture the primitive landsca])e. To get the full bene- 
lit and jo\ of the beauty of this most interesting si)ot, the mysticism 
and secrec}' of clells and canyons one must wander along the trails 
through cliffs and woodlands, over vegetation covered lioors, through 
ravines and dells of ferns, muler overhanging pines and cedars, into 
cool canyons that havi' been ni their making since prehistoric times, 
over precipices revealing the beauties of the Illinois valley, through 
raspberry and blackberry patches, into open woodlands, sweetened by 
phlox and violets, in fact, through everything that is interesting, edu- 
cational and beautiful. Following the numeorus trails with which the 
Park abounds, the visitor is led from the fern covered luaze of the jun- 
gle to the cactus and prickly pear of the desert ; from the open and 
level ])ath of the i)rairie to the narrow cliff' encircling trail of the moun- 
tain ; from the undulating footway of the meadow to the rock-encircletl 
aivd perpendicular walled canyon. 



53 




Pulpit Rock — Sturved Rock Park. 



54 

'J"hc streams in tlic Starved Rock region have (levelo])e(l steep 
rock walls. In some of the smaller valleys the height of the cliffs 
exceed the width of the valleys. These deep and gloomy chasms 
ar called "canyons." Viewed from within, a typical canyon shows 
walls of cninihling sandstone, rising vertically and in some cases 
over-hanging; within their shadows, underground waters drip from 
mossy crexices. At their base loose sand has accumulated in (luantiiy, 
forming in many places a pedestal to the cliffs, densely covered with 
shade loving vegetation. 1^he gray, fern-grown cliffs usually inc'ose 
a narrow strij) of irregular iloor with miniature pools during the rainy 
season. At times small waterfalls exist at the heads of the canyons 
but a greater ])art of the year the canyons are dry except for a few 
pools. From above, overhanging trees and shrubs lnok down into 
the deep shade. 

The principal canyons are named. St. Louis, Kickapoo, Sac, and 
l-'ox, west of the Rock and French. Pontiac, Wild Cat, Witch's Kit- 
chen, Fone Tree, Horseshoe and its l)ranches, Tonti and LaSalle, 
Owl, Hidden, llennipen, Ottawa and Illinois, east of the' Rock. 

Between Starved Rock and the main bluff' to the south is a for- 
mation similar in size and character to Starved Rock known as Devil's 
Nose. Fast of Starved Rock, its l)ase washed by the waters of the Illi- 
nois, Lover's Leap, a projection of the bluff", rears its massive form, 
the eastern end of which is known as Fagle Cliff'. A short distance 
above Fagle Cliff', a smaller but similar formation is known as the 
Bee Hive and still further east a sjnu- of the bluff', shaped bv the action 
of the elements into the semblance of a pulpit is known as Pulpit Rock. 
At the eastern entrance to the Park is the Salt Well, a natural spring of 
water highly impregnated with minerals. 

By acf|uiring this site, the State of Illinois has fittingly returned 
its most historic landmark, situated amidst scenerv of rare excellence, 
to its citizens for their free and ])er])etual enjinnient 



METAMORA COURT HOUSE. 

Tl M"> ofticial transfer of ihe old Metaniora Court House to the 
State of Illinois, to be jireserved for the ages as a Lincoln Me- 
morial Museum was celebrated on August '^(5, I!)'?! as a note- 
worth}' t'vent in connection with llie annual Woodford COuntv ( )ld 
Settlers reunion. 

In 18i;5 the county seat was located at .Metamora. then ]<no\\n 
by the name of Hanover and remained there until IS'.Mi. when it was 
removed to Eureka. 

The old court house was built in IS I.") by l)a\id lr\ing. Tlu 
timbers were hewn out of logs cut wvav the \illage. The bricks were 
burned at Metamora. .\ large ])ortion of the ]um])er from lohnson's 
Mill near bv, was black walnut and toda\ stands a> \ (.'ril \inLr evidence 



55 



T 
f 

lit 



■'■I 





ISIetamora Court House. 



66 

of its stability. Nature liad been prodigal in ber gifts of raw material 
and did her part in tbe building. 

It was an oblong buiUling forty feet wide by fifty feet long, with 
a hall running through the middle from the front to the rear, with offices 
on either side of the hall. At the rear or north end of the building 
there were stairs leading to the second story and the court room was 
entered from the north end. The building was surmounted, as it still 
is, with a cupola, which could be seen for a long distance over the 
then treeless prairie. 

In 1870 the stairs were changed to the front of the building and 
the arrangement of the court room altered, but the original building 
stands the same as when erected, with the exception of two wings, 
added about 1884. 

The value of this modest temple of justice is not in its s])lendid 
architecture nor in the materials of which it is built but rather in the 
sacred memories that cluster about it. In this regard it is (l()ul)tful 
if a more important or valuable court house can be found in the 
United States. It was the forensic home of many notrd lawyers. 
Abraham Lnicoln. as a circuit riding lawyer, had been attending court 
in old Versailles, the first county seat of Woodford County. On the 
removal of the county seat to Metamora he continued to ride the cir- 
cuit from one county seat to another. He was a regular attendant 
at court in Metamora until the late fifties. The old building is the 
last remaining court house in the state in which Lincoln practiced law. 

There were times when Abraham Lincoln, Adlai E. Stevenson, 
Judge David Havis and Robert G. IngersoU all met under the roof 
of that building, not only once, but many times. No one would have 
believed at that time that, within the walls of that unpretentious struc- 
ture, there were assembled a future President and Vice President, a 
future Judge of the highest judicial body in the world and the great- 
est orator of his age. Vet this all proved to be true. 

A country is rich or poor according to the traditions wlii.li in- 
fluence and shape its course and the present generation can best serve 
posterity by preserving imperishably the names and deeds of the great 
and good men who have preceded us. To preserve the old court 
house at Metamora will aid to preserve the fame and names of the 
great and distinguished men who have been associated with it and 
( iovernor Small and the Fifty Second General Assembly ruled well 
when they arranged to make "Old Metamora" one of the monuments 
of our state that the associations connected with it might be an in- 
spiration for future generations. 



FORT CREVE COEUR. 

ONT''. of the most interesting periods of Illinois history is that of 
l'"rench discovery, exi)loration and M'tllenunt. W liile l''ather 
Marquette, in Kii;], made a voyage down the Mississipi)i river, no 
attempt was made to possess or colonize the country visited. Ihat 
was left for that wonderful man. the intrei)id chevalier. LaSalle, whose 



57 

imagination was fired by the scanty account of a vast fertile country, 
whose only inhabitants were Indians. 

Backed by Frontenac. then governor of Canada, in his scheme 
of taking possession of this unknown country and the great river 
which would furnish a short route to the Pacific Ocean and the com- 
merce of the east, he easily secured the necessary endorsements at 
court and started out. After many disheartening delays and disap- 
pointments, he reached, in December 1679, the Illinois river with his 
party, consisting of 30 laborers, three priests and Henry de Tonti. 

On January 4, 1680 LaSalle entered Peoria lake. On the morn- 
ing of the 5th, he landed at the Indian village which was where 
the river narrows below the lake and assured the Indians of his peace- 
able intentions. Cordial relations were soon disturbed by a nocturnal 
visit to the Indians of a Miami chief who told them that LaSalle was 
a friend of their enemies, the Iroquois. This tale so alarmed the 
Indians that they decided not to assist LaSalle in his project of reach- 
ing the Mississippi. Many dif^culties arose and some of La.Salle's 
men deserted. He decided to build a fort to protect the balance from 
the Indians. 

At this time disaster after disaster befell LaSalle in his enter- 
])rises. The Cirififin, his first vessel, with its valuable cargo of furs, 
which he depended upon for his expense, was lost. A second vessel 
with merchandise from France, was wrecked while ascending the St. 
Lawrence. It is commonly sui)])osed that LaSalle. dejected at his 
losses and hi> increasing difficulties called this fort "Creve Coeur" 
(broken heart) on that account. 

It was not until December 16S1 that his linal journey down the 
Illinois was begun. He passed several weeks in the Illinois Valley and 
at last reached his goal, the mouth of the A'Iississip])i, in April 1682. 

The search for the truth as to the exact site of b^'ort Creve Coeur 
has been pursued for over many years. An examination of all the 
Illinois histories, both translations and originals of b'rench writers on 
the subjects and many other books have been made, in order to make 
the collection of opinions as complete as possible. In 1021 the Illinois 
State Historical Society finally selected as the actual location of the 
fort a s])ot situated on a beautiful blufT overlooking the Illinois River 
in Fon du Lac township, Tazewell County, south and east of Peoria. 
This is the site selected some years ago Ijy the Peoria Chapter of the 
Daughters of the American Revolution. 

Mr. and Mrs. C. H. Wagner have donated to the State of Illinois 
fifteen acres of land surrounding this location and a suitable marker 
has recently been erected on the site. 



DIXON BLOCKHOUSE. 

Wlll^N promoters of the Lincoln Highway routed the trail 
across the continent through Dixon perhaps they planned 
better than they knew. By accident more than design 
tlu-y brought it to loncli the very site of the block house where Abra- 
ham Lincoln served as a soldier in the Black Hawk war in 1832. Here 



58 

llie Highway passes one of the three scenes of T.incohvs activities in 
its long route, another being llie hatllefu'ld of (iettysbnrg where his 
famous speech was made. 

Not only because Lincoln was (|uarlere(l here is the site of the 
block house famous. .Several other ])r()niinent figures of American 
History were stationed here during the lilack I lawk War. Zachary 
Taylor, another I'resideni, llun a colonel in the army, made this his 
headquarters at one time. Jnhn keynf)lds, later governor of Illinois, 
General .\tkinson. Lientenani l\(il)ert Anderson, defender of Fort Sum- 
ter, and the pictures(|ue ]v\'\ Davis, then a lieutenant, were (juartered 
here. 

Title to the ground where the block house stood was ])urchase(l 
by the State this year when the 52(1 general assembly made an a])i>n)- 
])riation for the pmijose. The ])lot of ground was formerly owi-.ed 
bv the Daughters of the American Revolution. 




»«hL 




Mominient erected in l!JO(l to the memory of the viftims of the Indian c'reelt 

Massacre of 1832. 



ILLINOIS MONUMENTS. 

h'or a list of monmnt'nls in Illinois and on l)atU'lields w liere Illi- 
nois soldiers fought, the reader i^ referred to the Illinois I'.liu' P.ook. 
l'J2\, i)ages 4'Jo to 501 inclusive, 



59 




Shabboiia. The White Mun'ss Friend. 



60 

SHABBONA PARK. 

SHABBONA Park, comprising seven and one half acres, located 
fdurtccn miles north of Ottawa, near the present site of Harding, 
in l-'reedom township, is the ])roperty of the LaSalle County 
Memorial Association but the State of Illinois has always been inter- 
ested in its maintenance and has made appropriations regularly for its 
upkeep. At a cost of $5,000 the State erected a monument to mark the 
last resting y)\a.ce of the fifteen lives sacrificed here to the cruel rifle and 
scalping knife of the Indians of Black Hawk's band. 

Replete with thrilling incidents of Indian warfare and the earliest 
days, the history of Illinois boasts of few of greater importance or 
historical interest than the Indian Creek massacre on this site on May 
20, 1833. 

Shabbona, the chief of the Pottowatamies, but a friend of the 
whites was called to attend a war dance near Dixon in May. 1832 
and was urged by Black Hawk to unite his several tribes with the 
Sauks in a war of extermination upon the white settlers along the 
frontier. Black Hawk said. "Shabbona, if you w-ill permit your young 
men to unite with mine I will have an army like the trees in the forest 
and I will drive the ])alefaces before me like the autumn leaves before 
an angry wind.'' "Aye", replied Shabbona, "but the palefaces will 
soon bring an army like the leaves of the trees and sweep you into. the 
ocean beneath the setting sun." Shabbona continued "That he had 
made a vow to the Great Spirit when he was second in command to 
Tecumseh in the battle of the Thames, that he would never again take 
up the tomahawk against the palefaces." But being unable to dis- 
suaed the wily Sauk chief from his murderous designs, he stole forth 
from the council of war in the dead of night and decided he would save 
the lives of the frontier settlers from the terrible torture of the toma- 
hawk and scalping knife. 

He knew the consequences of becoming a traitor to his people. 
He knew that his motives would be suspected by the palefaces whom 
he would befriend. He knew but few of them personally nor could 
he speak or understand iheir language. The distance to be traveled 
to the white settlem.ent was more than one hundred miles in a straight 
line but the distance was much farther by the zigzag course he must 
take to reach them; could he warn ibeni of thi'ir d'mger and save 
their lives. 

Mounted on his favorite pony, guided only by the stars for a 
compass, he started on his long journey. Coming to the south, he was 
joined by his son, Pyps, and away went these couriers of mercy. 
Pyps to the west and Shabbona to the east, over prairies and through 
timbers in the dark night, where there were no roads or bridges, 
pursued by Sauk spies. Turning his back upon his own people forever, 
well knowing ho would be branded as a Benedict Arnold, he went 
from house to house calling upon the people to flee for their lives, 
telling some to go to the Fort at Ottawa, others to Fort Dearborn 
at Chicago. Every settler was warned along the whole frontier 



61 

in time to speed to points of safety, but alas, there were a few who 
failed to heed the timely warning and notably so the victims of the 
Indian Creek Massacre, when sixteen white men and children were 
scalped and several women were taken captive. Hence it is that 
the history of the trials of the pioneer settlers of this county could 
not be written without relating the virtues of the great chief, Shab- 
bona. 



LIBRftRY OF CONGRESS 

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